All posts tagged: Central and Eastern Europe

Polish politicians have been so focused on saving coal that they’ve gone up against the European Union, but Brussels is beginning to push back. Money from the EU’s modernization fund can no longer be used for coal-related investments. Still, writes Michał Olszewski, the country refuses to modernize its energy sector.

Poland is set to miss its target of covering up to 15% of energy demand with renewables by 2020. Under the most favorable scenario provided by a report released by local consultancy Ecofys, new additions for solar may reach 695 GWh, while the country is expected to reach a target of only 13.8% by the end of the decade. Emiliano Bellini goes in-depth.

Although some have argued that new nuclear is necessary for the power mix, Jan Ondřich disagrees. He takes a look at the numbers and finds that in the next 30 years, there’s no way that nuclear can compete with a mix of solar, wind, and gas.

View of the gas peaking plant in New Jersey (Photo by Jim.henderson, edited, CC0 1.0)

New nuclear: we know now it’s much more expensive than other options. But Central and Eastern European countries are investing in new projects (and the costs will be subsidized by tax payers). Policymakers argue that on the European grid, these prices make sense–but Jan Ondrich thinks otherwise.

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have been known for negating most policies which in the short run require some level of altruism and sense of responsibility, from climate change to immigration issues. When Germany embarked upon its revolutionary and transformative energy policy which became known as Energiewende, CEE political leaders were quick to condemn and ridicule the policy. Jan Ondrich explains.

The current market fails to generate pricing signals allowing full cost recovery of power generation. The European Commission decided to introduce a set of measures to ensure generation adequacy and supply security. The measures are further detailed in network codes, explains Jan Ondřich.

The EU’s 2030 climate package contains free emissions trading allowances for Central and Eastern Europe’s carbon-intensive industries. Thereby, Brussels not only conceded to the environmental damage and long overdue changes to the market, but also to the possibility of corruption. Jan Ondrich explains.

Politicians from Central and Eastern Europe use wrong assumptions to justify new nuclear power in their region. They base their pro nuclear stance on an expected significant increase in domestic power demand and increasing wholesale prices. Jan Ondrich reports.

Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, also known as the Visegrad Group, are all in the process of making profound mistakes concerning their energy supplies, which will cost these countries dearly for decades to come, as Paul Hockenos warns.